How Google’s ‘Material Theming’ will change your Android experience

Previously, if you visited Google Docs on the web and then hopped into a third-party Android app, you’d often experience a bit of a deja vu with regards to the interface. But Material Theming isn’t an entirely new theme; it’s just an improved way for developers to stick to consistent design parameters while allowing their own aesthetic to shine through.

Made for developers

At Google I/O 2018, the search giant explained why it created Material Theming. The guidelines that the company originally wrote for Material Design encouraged developers to make apps that looked too much alike. Indie apps, for example, became difficult to distinguish from Google apps laid out in the same design scheme, even if they employed different color palettes. Developers were having difficulty branching out from the guidelines and developing a “brand” of sorts, in turn contributing to a cycle of Android apps looking too much alike.